Hi There,

I'm also interested in investing in this resort. Who do you recommend to contact - developer directly (IPI) or agents?

Would I still get pre-launch prices?

I read that you have also hired a lawyer to check contracts and do DD - I would be interested in participating and obviouslyy sharing costs...

Many thanks in advance!

Hi Zorba, I went through Acquire Abroad. A lady called Marietta. She has been really helpful throughout and has always answered emails really quickly. You dont pay the agent commission (the developer pays the agent).

The developer is also really really helpful, the lady you deal with at IPI is Sue Lovett. She answers all emails quickly.

Prices now are as in the investment guide (see marsaalambeachresort.com)

They are not too much higher than the prelaunch prices (pre launch was april (I think)).

If you do decide to go ahead, I can give you details of the lawyer (he is charging us all the same amount to review contracts and look over the due diligence.

Anyway if you need any more info, please ask or PM me if you want details of the lawyer should you decide to go ahead.

Cheers.

Lou

Hi Lou,

Zorba won't be able to PM you until he's an 'active member' - that goes into effect after about half a dozen good posts.

Thanks Lou,

I need to do a little bit more analysis on this, but basically the major question for me is security of the off-plan investment.

I've briefly looked at IPI website and they seem to be still a relatively young developer. Within the current tough times on credit markets it doesn't take long for developers to go into financial difficulties... (for example latest news on giants like Barrat in the UK...)

Marsa project seems to be very large and done in parallel with Zafarana project, which raises the question whether the developer is not overstretching himself... Have you done proper due-diligence on finances etc.? Is there any payment protection scheme like bank guarantees or escrow agents for this development?

Best Regards,

Zorba

Hiya,

There is a full due diligence (although we have yet to see it) but no money is changing hands until we see it and get it checked out.

The money is held separately by an escrow agent and is released to the developer in stages.

The money held is also only held against your block so cannot be used to build a separate block.

At the moment, only the first phase has been released (this will be 750 units) and I know they had 280 contracts to send out (from the pre-launch buyers). I am assuming they will start to sell more now its actually launched and people have something to look at from the brochure and when people eventually start visiting the site.

I went with the assumption that if the developer has bitten off more than he can chew, he will not complete the second phase which is the other half of the plot of land. I am quite confident that, having sold 280 units since January 2008 this year, that they will sell the remaining units in phase 1 before they go on to start promoting phase 2.

Also on the rental income you can opt for a bank guarantee if you so wish, or just opt for the developer guarantee.

Any more questions please feel free to ask.

Lou

Hi All, I would be interested in sharing any feedback you have on the purchasing agreements issued by IPI in respect of the Marsa Alam Beach Resort. I received mine Saturday 15th June, although dated 11th June.

I am pleased that in general the agreement seems to be in fairly plain english, however I do have some comments as follows:

The initial 'Marsa Alam Beach Resort Investment Guide - Version 1 issued late March 2008 comes with a disclaimer 'this document holds no contractual value' This is the same document that provides a breakdown of what is in each furniture pack as well as other information which investors rely on in good faith.

1) The purchase agreement should have an appendix with the inventory of items that comprise of the relevant furniture pack depending upon which apartment is opted for. Without it, there is no guarantee that we will get what we thought as we cannot rely upon the investment guide

2) There is no mention in the agreement of what the maintenance charge is per month/per annum. Irrespective of whether the rental guarantee covers this. The original investment guide indicates a figure of 50 euros per month


3) The maintenance charge should state the period for which the cost is fixed, in addition indicate any exclusions.

4) There is no indication as to the mechanism for future price increases to maintenance. This needs to be in the contract otherwise, we may face well above inflation price hikes.

5) There is no indication of the bank guarantee charges for the rental agreement. This is referred to in the investment guide and should be included within the agreement.

6) The timescales for completion are within 28 days of the reservation document. Bearing in mind that many of us completed the reservation document some months back, shouldn't this read within 28 days of the date of the purchase agreement?

The following are some observations:

Article 3, (e), the notice period required to reserve apartment under the rental guarantee is three months, in the investment guide this was 2 months. Probably not a major issue though i would prefer 2 months

Article 1. This paragraph is a bit confusing regarding payment. See also Article 3, rental is now paid each quarter, needs to be more specific e.g month etc.

If anyone has any comments, please feel free to post. I would imagine the purchase agreement is fairly standard with minor tweaks.

I am not put off by the omissions as these should be easily rectified.

I noticed reference to the fact that a buyers association would be set up which is always a good thing. I suppose it is too early to define its role, frequency of meetings and powers etc????


Chris

Good points Chris, to simplify matters, I shall start making a list underneath here of all the things we want added into the contract (then we can send one instruction to zeiad (he will have been sent all contracts individually by each of us).

I will just do a numbered list and those of you that can think of any others, cut and paste my list and add to it with a new posting (so that the latest posting always shows the whole list) hope everyone doesnt mind doing it like this:

The List
1. purchase agreement should have an appendix with the inventory of items that comprise of the relevant furniture pack - The two bed apartments should also say "with fully fitted kitchen and bathroom" - I have also been told that the two bedroom end apartments have dearer furniture packs because they come with sun loungers and an umbrella for the balcony - so make sure this is in your contract too
2) The maintenance charge per month/per annum. Irrespective of whether the rental guarantee covers this.
3) The maintenance charge should state the period for which the cost is fixed, in addition indicate any exclusions and an indication of future price increases - I also think it should list what is included - maintenance of grounds and facilities, electricity?? Gas?? insurance?? water rates??? there is nothing to say these will not be payable by us if we opt out of the rental agreement. I also think it should say something about the hotel replacing any goods damaged in our apartment whilst being rented out will be replaced by the hotel/developer
4) the bank guarantee charges for the rental agreement. This is referred to in the investment guide and should be included within the agreement (for those that are opting for the bank guarantee).
5) The timescales for completion are within 28 days of the reservation document. Bearing in mind that many of us completed the reservation document some months back, shouldn't this read within 28 days of the date of the purchase agreement?
6. Article 3 should quote what months the rent is paid (we know its quarterly but when)
7. (and this one is only for me - able to have a bird in a cage)
8. Contract needs to also be in arabic
9. Date of commencement of building works
10. actualy date of completion of full resort and full facilities
11. We should have a snagging time limit entered on the contract to allow us to get out there and confirm we are happy with the apartment and finishing and to make any complaints of bad workmanship in our apartment
12. Use of Free Shuttle Service from the airport
13. I am going to try and get a clause in to say our apartment is rented out as a non smoking room (but I am not sure if they will go for this!!)
Just a few points I looked at on the contract myself that I also want to query
with you are as follows:
14. With regard to Article 3d should we have entered in there that we are
under no obligation to accept the Developer's offer
15. Article 3e - if we give the full three months notice, we definitely get
our own individual apartment rather than just an "available one".
16. With regards to the first page "Agree" - the developer sells to the buyer
the right to acquire. I feel this should say something along the lines of the
developer sells to the buyer the freehold ownership of apartment no. ^^^^^ - I feel we are not purchasing a right to buy, we are actually purchasing a freehold.
17. Article 4.4 - DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS
18. for those that have not opted for the bank guarantee for the rental (and have just opted for the developer guarantee we should have a note in there saying "failure of the developer making rental payments to the buyer, will result in the buyer retaining the keys and early termination of the rental contract" to cover us in case the developer does not pay.


THANKS FOR BEARING WITH ME!!!! Please all feel free to cut and paste the above list and make it longer in another posting if you wish to add to it. Oh and by the way zeiad will not review the contracts until he has seen the full due diligence and is happy with it. He has asked for certain information so far and I have forwarded his requests to IPI so hopefully they will answer this soon.

Lou

Still not received contact.......maybe tomorrow!!

Hi Optom, if you want to PM me, I dont mind forwarding you a copy of my contract so that you can have a scan through to see what you like/dislike - just let me know your email.

I would contact IPI just in case (it is sent through the post).

Lou

hi still not received any yet.will be getting on to them today.